All Questions

The vis-viva equation models the motion of an orbiting body and it applies when the only force acting on the body is it's own weight. So is it correct to apply this equation to an airplane that flies ...

Imagine the following thought experiment: An astronaut is inside an extremely large room within a space station. Suppose that she, for whatever reason, is initially at a zero velocity with respect ...

For an interplanetary mission design problem, I am using the JPL New Horizons Ephermeris to obtain the state vectors of Venus and Earth. I have selected the Coordinate origin as the body centre of the ...

Chang'e 4 is in Moon orbit since December 12, the landing is scheduled for January 3. What is planned during the 22 days in orbit?

With computers and technology becoming lighter and is also effected by drag. Could a small satellite that lacks certain systems be designed to utilize an existing satellites systems like radio, solar ...

Could smaller satellites be designed to intercept other functioning artificial satellites or space junk already in orbit to add weight to the small satellite in order to last longer in orbit?

Related to this question: Could the void of space act as a good refrigerator for food in long journeys? I don't have enough rep to comment and don't have the answer to this question but it feels to ...

I am assuming there are no photographs, with enough resolution, of the any of the debris fields of Mars probes that crashed into the surface of Mars to indicate what the debris field looks like. I am ...

I want to build extreme cheap high altitude stuff - balloon, paper plane :) anything. Its cold outside now, and i dont want to track, and collect the my landed "spacecraft". So, i need a very cheap ...

I was discussing with some friends in addressing every possibilities of geocentric model of universe using experimental evidence rather than eyesight. But then one guy (in geocentricist-side) asked, ...

The vis-viva equation models the motion of an orbiting body and it applies when the only force acting on the body is it's own weight. So is it correct to apply this equation to an airplane that ...

Here is a GIF that I made of the recent Electron Launch from frame grabs in the Rocket Lab video ELaNa 19 Launch - 12/16/2018 It is about 4M, so it won't fit in SE's normal image import. Frames are ...

The Rocket Lab YouTube video ELaNa 19 Launch - 12/16/2018 contained a short video which was preceded by the following explanation after about 08:00: Today’s ...

Our satellites have recently traveled just beyond the solar system. We have not even crossed one arm of our galaxy, and still humans hold various perceptions about other galaxies, the clusters, super ...

Why are the lightning towers around launch pads topped with big hollow tubes with spiral windings? Why not conventional lightning rods - big metal rods with pointy things at the top? Possibly ...

What is an efficient method to map image pixels (2D-Cartesian) to their spherical coordinates given camera azimuth and elevation? (Ideally, response includes mathematical notation/Python/C++)

Is it true that an extraterrestrial satellite orbits earth in retrograde? If the Black knight exists, can we presume that it is placed there by aliens who are technologically more advanced than ...

What pros and cons would a orbiting ring have for Earth? Is there enough satellites in orbit to form a joined ring?

I am studying different dynamical models of relative motion of satellites. In my work, I've always just used a numerical integrator like RK78 to integrate the cartesian system of equations: $\dot{r}=...

Can a variable of physical traits like height, weight, complexion be changed in outer space? Maybe by gravity or by something else that determines these traits (like the UV rays of the sun that ...

I looked at DNS Now to check on Hayabusa-2 and compare to http://haya2now.jp/en.html and saw that DSS 34 in Canberra is currently in setup/teardown for Ground Based Radio Astronomy! In this status ...

Planetary protection rules could be a reason not to bring biofilms to Mars, but because several landers and satellites that crashed or landed on Mars were probably not sterilized these rules were ...

For landing the boosters, it is clear that SpaceX is using the center engine, but I suspect that igniting one engine will not be helpful. If they aren't igniting all the 9 engines, how are they ...

How long can nutrients found in Mars along with an algae diet sustain human life?

This Tweet by NASA Space Flight Editor Ian Atkinson says: Some pictures from the Cathedral before the event starts, they have a table set up with artifacts from Apollo 8, including the flown ...

In this 20-Nov-2018 Tweet from Rocket Labs XXX Peter Beck there is an image of the nine Rutherford engines of an Electron rocket burning. What is unusual is that the exhaust is luminescent but at the ...

Human waste could be used in a hydroponics facility to grow algae in space or Mars in pressurized tanks, and the photosynthesis can be used to convert CO2 to breathable oxygen. A carbon dioxide ...

So recently i have been very interested in the possibilities of using ion thrusters as power interstellar propulsion units, however when it comes to calculating ISP it have absolutely zero idea how ...

@Tristan's answer says: The satellites are classified, so details are speculative, but it is believed that the Magnum/Orion and Mentor SIGINT satellites have parabolic antennae around 100 m in ...

I am worried about InSight's solar panels getting covered in dust: Why do InSight's solar panels have tall vertical ridges between segments - will these trap dust? Help me to sleep better. What would ...

The ISRO web page Ground Segment says: SRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) will be providing support of the TTC ground stations, communications network between ground stations and ...

Airbus has announced a mass-manufacturing unit for OneWeb constellation of satellites. See for example Space News' With a new satellite factory in the U.S., Airbus eyes opportunities in military space ...

Conversation at the bar led to space travel, and whether each of us would commit to the journey to Mars. It came up that instead of going to the bar, you would need to brew your own beer. This led to ...

Writing this answer I realized that Hayabusa-2 has two very similar looking circular flat disks that serve as it's high gain antennas. One is dedicated to X-band (7-8 GHz) and the other to Ka-band (32 ...

Cold gas thrusters are a very simple and reliable form of thruster that operate only by spraying a compressed gas, without any chemical reaction. What are the most common, performant, or otherwise ...

Is there an approximation of what a human would look like walking on Mars? Would it be closer to how the astronauts walked on the moon or the way we walk on the Earth? With the gravitational ...

The pinned tweet on Hayabusa-2's Twitter account leads to http://haya2now.jp/en.html which is a kind of control panel readout of the spacecraft's situation. I clicked ...

These JAXA's Hayabusa-2's two Tweets: 1 2 show a diagram of the spacecraft's motion relative to Ruygu in what they call a Hill Coordinate System, This is a diagram of the trajectory during solar ...

It's been more than 40 years since NASA launched Voyager 1 & Voyager 2. With more advanced technology, wouldn't it now be a good time to continue sending more sophisticated Voyagers out there? ...

This diagram suggests a helix in the wake, was it a single-helix, a multiple helix, or a superhelix? Is there any other part of the wake that would be visible?

New Horizons passed 7,750 mi (12,472 km) from the surface of Pluto at its closest approach, limiting the image resolution to about 600 feet (183 m). What set the specific closest-approach distance? ...

Have any spatially resolved measurements of gamma rays or X-rays from medium and small solar system bodies been collected from space? These might be planets, moons, or asteroids for example, but ...

Below are two screen shots from the video of the Orion reentry, Astronaut’s-Eye View of NASA’s Orion Spacecraft Re-entry, and a diagram. Is the plasma contained, or primarily within the viscous wake, ...

Did the Apollo astronauts describe any differences in how it felt in the CM as it passed between the hypersonic, supersonic, transonic and the subsonic zone? Did the CM shake more or less in ...

Taking into account the physical characteristics of Titan (e.g. surface gravity, atmospheric pressure), what would be the most efficient method of motion for an astronaut to travel the surface of ...

In this answer I showed the schematic diagram of a basic de Laval nozzle and representative plots of how temperature, pressure and and velocity would behave. It can be used as a rough representation ...

When I was young, I had a set of bar magnets which had poles on the side faces (across the thickness) and not at the two ends. I placed one on the table facing one pole upwards (say north pole). ...

I'm interested in our recent interstellar visitor 'Oumuamua. Whilst I'm happy to accept the official explanation of what it is, I'm curious about what state it would be in if it was actually alien ...

The NASA article Preparing for Discovery With NASA's Parker Solar Probe says that we are now receiving data from the probe's first pass, but also that we will not receive all of the first pass's data ...

It occurred to me that all of the kinetic energy not going exactly in the opposite direction of a spacecraft is wasted! Since heat is essentially kinetic "noise" in objects, I wondered how much more ...